Murder of a Bookstore Babe

“Wait up, Xenia.” Skye caught up with the girl at the foot of the stairs, and they moved onto the grass.

“Ms. D.” Xenia stopped. “I bet I was the last person you thought you’d see at church.”

“Not the last person . . .” Skye trailed off, not wanting to lie. “But I thought maybe with your trust issues—”

“Hey,” Xenia cut her off. “I believe God loves me. I just think he has a really, really wack way of showing it sometimes.” She grinned. “Besides, I like asking Father B. questions that get him all riled up. I’m an equal-opportunity annoyer.”

Skye couldn’t imagine the priest “all riled up,” so instead of commenting, she asked, “How about I buy you lunch?”

“McDonald’s or the Feed Bag?” Xenia challenged.

“You pick.”

Xenia weighed the choices. “Since you probably want to pump me about Kayla again, McDonald’s is more private.”

“True.” Skye was glad that Xenia seemed to be in a cooperative mood. “Then McDonald’s it is.”

“I’ll meet you there. Get me a Big Mac, fries, and a large coffee,” Xenia said, then started off to the right. “The lot was full, so my car’s parked on the street.”

Skye nodded and headed in the opposite direction. She hoped this wasn’t Xenia’s way of ditching her.

When she arrived at McDonald’s, Xenia had staked out a booth in the back corner. Skye placed their order and joined the girl once their meals were ready.

Skye slid into the seat opposite Xenia and distributed the food. “Thanks for talking to me.”

“Duh. Like you wouldn’t have hounded me until I did.” Xenia decapitated a sugar packet and poured the contents into her cup, stirred, then asked, “So, what’s up?”

“I need you to be straight with me.” Skye had thought a lot about how to approach Xenia and decided head-on was the best way. “I know Kayla was your friend, and you don’t want to speak ill of the dead, but we need to find her killer. No one is as wonderful as you described Kayla to me last time we talked.”

“True,” Xenia agreed without the least bit of embarrassment. “But why should I tell you Kayla’s personal business?” She fiddled with her stirrer, spattering the tabletop with droplets of coffee. “Besides, I thought you told me yesterday that the murderer was after Ms. Vaughn, not Kayla.”

“Now I think I was wrong.” Skye shook her head. “Something’s been bothering me, and I think I figured out what. Your version of Kayla and Chase’s version of Kayla are too dissimilar. It’s almost as if you two were talking about different girls.”

“That’s ’cause he had no idea who she really was.” Xenia took a bite of her sandwich, swallowed, and added, “He thought she should be like some nineteen-fifties housewife—pop out two-point-five kids, make his dinner, and clean up after everyone.”

“And you thought she should pursue her art and become a famous director.” Skye gave Xenia a calculating glance. “Was that her dream or yours?”

“Both of ours.” Xenia sneered. “Chase is a jerk. He’s just like Kayla’s stepdad.”

“You’re sure?” Skye made a face. “One of my personality flaws, and a bad one considering I’m a psychologist, is that I’m often too quick to judge people.”

“I’m right about Kayla.” Xenia’s voice was firm. “And about Chase.”

“One thing I always try to remember is that the side a person shows you is not always representative of them as a whole.” Skye stabbed her salad over and over with her fork as she considered Xenia’s statements. “Kayla had to see something in Chase. They were together a long time.”

“Back when they first started dating, he was what she needed—someone to love her more than anyone else. He was a way to escape from her family and for her to be number one in someone’s life.” Xenia twisted a skull-shaped ring on her finger. “But that was years ago. When Kayla started film school in Chicago, she got a taste of freedom and saw what life outside of Scumble River could be like. It made her think that maybe Chase wasn’t the right guy for her.”

“Chase said they were getting married later this month.”

“True. She agreed a couple of weeks ago to marry him.” Xenia narrowed her eyes. “But now that we’re talking about it, Kayla said something the night before she was killed that made me wonder if she’d changed her mind.”

“What?”

“I can’t remember exactly.” Xenia shook her head. “It was just a fleeting impression.”

“Interesting.” Skye thought for a moment. “Did you tell me that the night Kayla died, Chase started calling you sometime before eleven o’clock?”

“Yeah.” Xenia nodded. “Way before. Maybe as early as quarter after eight or eight thirty.”

“Oh.” Skye’s mouth dropped open and she sat up straighter. “He told me he didn’t start calling you until after midnight.”

“Then he lied. And I can prove it. I haven’t erased his messages.”

“I need to talk to Chase.” Skye felt the ghost of an idea percolating in the back of her mind.

“Not without me.” Xenia stood up. “Let’s go. I know just where to find him.”

CHAPTER 24

The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter